Shreve continues talks in forming new fire district

Sunday

Dec 21, 2008 at 4:06 AM

By CHRISTY JOHNSONStaff WriterSHREVE -- After months of talks, action is being taken toward the creation of an area fire and emergency squad district.Mayor Keith Rickett said he took it upon himself to set up a meeting and sent out letters to parties he would like to see in attendance.In the letter, Rickett wrote that after having conversations with several interested parties, he felt a meeting to discuss a potential fire and squad district was necessary.Since June, the village, along with Clinton Township, have been going back and forth about forming a district. But now, Rickett said, it is time to seriously talk."We have people within a mile of the village who have squad coverage coming from another EMS several miles away," Rickett said. "Some people do not care where the help is coming from as long as when they call 9-1-1 a red truck comes up to their house, which to me that is unacceptable. I want people to pull up and get the job done in a timely fashion."Forming a district would mean forming a separate entity to govern it, Rickett said.The mayor said a joint fire district would need at least one representative from the township, one from the village and a fiscal officer or clerk-treasurer to handle budgets and money coming in from levies."Instead of throwing it over to the other (community), saying you take this, you take that, you are forming a completely different governing body," Rickett said. "The village of Shreve is saying OK, we are going to give the district our squad and then the township would give fire, instead of township doing fire, the district would."Subsequently, the EMS and fire personnel would become employees of the fire district.Along with Clinton Township, Rickett said he hopes to see trustees from Ripley Township, members of Wooster Township Fire and commissioners from both Wayne and Holmes counties at the meeting."I do plan to attend, just to hear what is being discussed," said Mark Del Propost, chief of Wooster Township Fire. "Creating a fire district has been discussed for many years and has been on and off the burners for many years. "It is definitely worth investigating," Del Propost said. I am not sure if it is right for every situation, but it is at least worth looking into."Wes Plant, Clinton Township trustee, said he also plans to attend the Monday night meeting."We still need a lot of answers," Plant said. "Something needs to be done, but I am not sure how it is going to go. It is not a simple situation."Another reason to look into creating a district, Rickett said, would be to provide more funding to replace older equipment.The meeting to discuss the fire and squad district will be held on Monday at 7 p.m.Reporter Christy Johnson can be reached at 330-287-1638 or cjohnson@the-daily-record.com.

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